Chapter 2

My experience from my first two lives had taught me one thing: Bryce was never the gentle, harmless senior he appeared to be.

The calmer he seemed, the worse the storm that followed.

Before I could think it through, hushed voices rose nearby, deliberately lowered, but not enough to keep me from hearing.

"Did you see that? Bryce didn't even bring her water today. He must be furious."

"He's been chasing her for almost half a month. He saves her a seat and brings her water every single day. Then she turns around and calls some guy who plays games her boyfriend. Who wouldn't feel hurt?"

"I bet she did it on purpose. She's playing hard to get, trying to keep him on a leash."

"That's a messed-up way to humiliate someone. She went too far."

Their words stabbed like needles, and my back went rigid.

I gripped the strap of my backpack, forced myself to sit down, and pulled out my books. But I couldn't focus on a single word.

I wanted to explain, but what could I possibly say? That Bryce had kidnapped and killed me in my first two lives? That he looked gentle and refined but was actually a psychopath?

No one would believe me. They would only think the stress of the exam had driven me insane.

I endured until the library closed for the night, then fled back to the dorm with my books clutched in my arms.

I pushed open the door and found Amanda Listwood sitting in a chair with a black face mask on, her legs crossed as she scrolled through her phone.

The moment she saw me, she shot upright, and the mask wrinkled across her face. "You're finally back! Are you out of your mind?"

She launched straight into it. "Bryce has everything going for him. He's handsome, he gets good grades, and I heard he's even on the student council. He saves you a seat and brings you water every day, and you can't even appreciate it. You had to drag some random gamer into this and use him as a shield?"

I tossed my books onto the desk, too exhausted to argue. "There's no possibility of anything happening between Bryce and me."

"What do you mean, no possibility?" Amanda ripped off her mask, frustration written all over her face. "The whole floor is saying you're playing hard to get, keeping him as a backup, and that you publicly humiliated him with some random guy."

"Some random guy?" I let out an angry laugh. "I said one thing without thinking. How does that make him some random guy?"

Amanda shoved her phone in my face. "And you're still talking back!"

The floor's group chat filled the screen, with dozens of messages about what had happened in the study room that day.

[That grad exam girl on the third floor is really full of herself.]

[Bryce is such a good guy, and she treats him like garbage!]

[I think she was playing hard to get, and it backfired.]

I stared at the messages, and my fingers went cold. "They don't know anything. How can they say that?"

Amanda pulled her phone back. "They're going by what they saw with their own eyes! Bryce brings you water every day, and everyone in the study room sees him do it.

"Then you turn around and call some stranger your boyfriend. Who wouldn't think you're playing him?

"Listen to me. Go apologize to him right now. There's still a chance to fix this."

Apologize? I'd have to be out of my mind.

I turned my back on her and said nothing.

…

The next day, I deliberately arrived at the study room half an hour early, hoping to avoid Bryce. But less than ten minutes after I sat down, at exactly ten in the morning, Bryce walked over.

He still carried the little bear thermos. He didn't look at me or say a word. He simply set it on the corner of my desk with a soft thud, then turned and walked away. Not once did he meet my eyes.

I stared at the thermos as my entire body tensed. He hadn't taken it back like he had yesterday, nor had he said a single word to me. He had just set it down and left?

Before I could make sense of it, a soft gasp came from somewhere behind me.

"God, he's so devoted. Even after being humiliated like that, he still brings her water."

"Is this what they mean by a simp? It hurts just to watch."

"Some people just don't know a good thing when they see it..."